Past Forward

The cakes and pastry 'season' comes alive in the later half of December and spreads over in January. The last week of the year sparks a festive season worldwide and India joins the revelry diligently every. Since our school days Christmas was synonymous with celebration and cakes! It continues and although cakes are available all throughout the year, they attain significance quite unparalleled at any other time. A visit to any place, be it a 5 star restaurant or the local grocery store, is incomplete without indulging the sweet tooth. Bakeries are at their best and go all out to woo customers. But only a handful is able to deliver the ‘different’ experience, which makes them out in the crowd.   Angels In My Kitchen is one such patisserie. Its outlet in Cyber Hub has a select and faithful fan following. It did have first mover advantage for some time, being the lone bakery, but inspite of other places selling cakes in some form or other, Angels has done remarkable wel...

I had heard of meeting point, lovers point, sunrise point etc. But when I heard of Chai Point, I could hardly believe that such a concept was possible. In this coffee chain crazy country, where you can find a coffee joint at every nook and corner, setting up a dedicated tea shop is, if I may call, a risky affair. I got a taste of their tea when a colleague got a whole jug to office one fine morning. What’s the big deal, I said to myself. When offered a cuppa, I obliged. The moment I sipped, I literally said ‘Aha’. It was an Aha moment for me, and I guess for hundreds, or ten thousands by now, of satisfied customers. For some their day begins at this outlet located in Cyber Hub (Based on the runaway success of this outlet in Gurgaon they have set up shop in other places such as Huda City Center, Unitech Infospace etc.).         They have a variety of tea available - lemon, ginger, masala, green etc. in hot chai; lemon, ginger, apple, cranb...

  In these of multiple restaurants and mushrooming eateries, the customer is certainly spoilt for choice. Most restaurants miss the bus with respect to reaching out to the vast majority of eat-outers. But on the other side of the line are another set of unique restaurants where not only people are willing to go more than once, they are willing to wait almost an hour before they can step in.   One such restaurant is Dhaba by Claridges, located in DLF Cyber Hub . It has the unique capability of drawing huge crowds not only during the weekdays at lunchtime, but also for dinner on weekends. I got a taste of its popularity on a late September Sunday evening. On emerging from the parking, Cyber Hub looked like a carnival of sorts. The first sight was a huge bike, called the Freedom Bike, constructed with a variety of items bought on OLX (a popular website for selling and buying all kinds of stuff). Next to it at the centre, Emirates was hosting a quiz show fo...

After checking out Cyber Hub across its length and breadth, we were feeling quite hungry. We made one final round and since Indian and Chinese are generally the places we usually ending up choosing, we decided to try something different on the inaugural visit.   Nando’s was right before us and its vibrant exteriors made quite an attractive proposition. and we marched in. The staff was quite amiable and showed us around the restaurant, giving us the freedom to decide. We chose a reasonably large table at one corner with very comfortable seating consisting of sofa occupying one half and  chairs the other half. There was no objection or suggestion to move to a smaller table! The tables are spaciously placed giving an impression of leisure unlike other restaurants where space is treated as a premium and there’s just enough gap for moving around. One a late Sunday afternoon the restaurant was decently occupied.       We ordere...

The concept of office area intermingling with food joints is a very successful model and a win-win situation for both employees and the food joints. However commercial spaces being expensive, cost of operating restaurants are very high and typically only a few restaurants are able to sustain. Imagine if there was a dedicated open area, the size of a football ground, only for restaurants within striking distance of office buildings. Add to that entertainment spots, open amphitheatre with giant screen, sprinklers to beat the summer heat, promotional events and you will get a world class experience.   This is Cyber Hub for you – a one stop shop for some of the most sought after eating places. DLF claims it to be India's first integrated Food-Entertainment destination . It is strategically located within DLF Cyber City in Gurgaon adjacent to Building Nos. 8 and 10 and overlooking the National High 8. The beauty of the conceptual construction is evident from the view along th...